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Mobile Technology and Mobile Living

Ashley, over at The Tuckerbag Blog, brought up a good post, inspired in part by a comment I made about technology really making the mobile life easier. As I started to comment about one little piece of technology that I just couldn’t live without, I felt that it really deserves it’s own post.

Naturally, I’m talking about my iPhone4. Now, I understand that everyone has their own views, and hey, if you love your Nokia, or your Android, fantastic, write about it so we can get some great ideas and make educated decisions on which phone to grab! I can only write about my experiences with the iPhone.(If you want, write me at thevandweller (at) live.ca, and I’ll post your review of your phone in this post! I’d love to get more viewpoints!)One of the most difficult things to do in a mobile situation, whether it be in a car, a van, or a 40′ Class A motorhome, is have room (and power) for a lot of tools that are just about a necessity. I got my first iPhone 3G, a couple years ago, and I loved it. In fact, you can see it on the counter in a couple photo’s in my grand tour. When my iPhone 3G started acting up a bit, I opted to grab the iPhone4, and I have never been happier.

This phone has everything. It’s a phone, it’s an iPod, it’s a half decent 5Mp camera (both still and video), it’s mobile internet, it has GPS, and accesses maps to provide me with directions. I have a digital compass in it. I have the YellowPages apps, and can look up businesses, and people. I can turn it into a mobile hub, and tether my laptop to it, surfing the web on my laptop through my iPhone4’s data plan.

I have games on it, music, movies, pictures, I can blog from it while sitting in a chair overlooking the lake. I even have an app that turns the flash, into a flashlight, and let me tell you, that light is very bright. I’ve had to use it a time or two in the past in areas that I needed light, and did not have a flashlight.

This one little device that fits in the palm of my hand, and sips power, is by far, the best technological purchase I have ever made. It replaces so many devices that would fill up my little van, and eat up all my power in no time at all. I have the world at my fingers because I never go anywhere without my phone.

I am fully connected to the world, no matter where I go. Well, there was this one place in the mountains where no one had service that I got a little dissconnected, and freaked out that I couldn’t tell the world about the beauty of what I was seeing with a picture to share until I got back into a serviceable area, and by then, the rush was gone.

My suggestion, is unless you enjoy tinkering, and really need to mess around with open source, stick with the Apple iPhone over Android. I’ve noticed in my work place, that Android users seem to be as smug towards iPhone users, as MAC users are towards Windows users. Guys, no one is better than anyone else. Relax. You like to build your own apps, I like them to simply work right away. It’s all about preference, and I’m not you. Don’t be a hater! haha 🙂

Here’s a quick breakdown of the iPhone4. For full specifications, check out Apple’s site here.

Power and batteryBuilt-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteryCharging via USB to computer system or power adapterTalk time: Up to 7 hours on 3G Up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM model only)Standby time: Up to 300 hoursInternet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G Up to 10 hours on Wi-FiVideo playback: Up to 10 hoursAudio playback: Up to 40 hours

Camera, photos, and videoVideo recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio 5-megapixel still cameraVGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second with the front cameraTap to focus video or still imagesLED flashPhoto and video geotagging